Dark Thorns
by Perfectio Ultima Cetum
Summary: The Creatures of Grimm are beasts of complete darkness. They act on instinct due to their soulless nature. And yet, there are actually a few Grimm that are actually intelligent. Some began to question if they were soulless in the first place. Once it was proven that they actually were, they began to wonder how they could use the Grimm for their own advantages. This is the result.
1. Crimson and Gold

**I own NOTHING!**

 **Chapter 1 – Crimson and Gold**

If one was to see the cliff from below, most would say that claiming it would be impossible. Then again, the ones that would actually come here wouldn't be considered most people. The reason it was said to be impossible to clime was because its ledge actually stuck out longer than the natural cliff face. However, if one was able to climb up it or find a way up it from the other way, they would see a view that would take their breath away. The ability to see across the forest of evergreens that spread out in a scenic view was one of the major amazements of this cliff. However, ones eyes would be drawn to the small stone memorial that stood at the edge of the cliff. The fact that it would be here of all places would be a surprise to most, and yet, it fit the scenery. By having that memorial there, it created a since of sacredness that even the darkest of hearts wouldn't dare tarnish.

Serene. That was one word that fit this place more than any other. There were only a few places on this world that could even hope to match this one spot.

Surprisingly enough, the person to enter this serene spot was a young girl. Only about the age of 15, she was cloaked in a red cape and hood that obscured most of her features. As soon as she entered the clearing, she paused. Taking a breath of some of the only true clean air on the world, she continued to walk to the stone memorial. As soon as she reached it, she flipped off her hood, revealing her face. Her hair was cut short and was black with red tips. Brilliant silver that seemed to convey intelligence as well as innocence. To some, both these features would cause the most attention. But what drew most attention were the scars on her face. Two scars on her cheeks and one that split diagonally across her forehead. Now, though, her eyes were slightly darkened with sadness. She knelt down and brushed off the snow from the memorial, allowing it to be read.

 _ **Here lies Summer Rose**_

 _ **Fighter of Monsters. Baker of Cookies.**_

"Hey, Mom." Ruby Rose said with a slight smile. She always smiled when she read that epitaph. It was so ridiculous, and yet fit her mother so well. She paused, almost as if she was waiting for her mother to respond. Then, she spoke again.

"Sorry that Dad and Yang weren't able to come this time. Yang had her finals and Dad is on a hunt with Uncle Qrow. At least I'll be able to introduce you to Fenrir."

' **YO, SUMMER.'**

The deep voice rumbled through Ruby's mind. Its guttural tone amplified by an odd echo that reverberated in her thoughts. She looked up at her temple for a few seconds, then back at the grave.

"Well, he is a bit crass and very bloodthirsty."

' **HEY!'**

"But in reality, he is a good friend, quite smart, and I wouldn't ever trade him for anyone else."

' **AW, THANK YOU. I THINK.'**

Ruby smiled a bit at the interaction. She and Fenrir had been friends for about 5 years, so it was nice to finally have her mother 'meet' the voice in her head. However, she frowned.

"Yang and Dad don't really like that I am talking to Fenrir. They think that I should somehow keep him locked away."

' **HELL NO. WE ARE A GREAT TEAM AND WE WILL KILL ANYONE IN OUR WAY!'**

"Well, not really. But you were the one who taught me to accept everyone for who they are, and I decided to get to actually know Fenrir instead of trying to keep him from being a problem."

' **I'M NO PROBLEM. I JUST A GIANT WOLF GRIMM STUCK INSIDE YOUR DAUGHER'S HEAD WHO RANDOMLY COMENTS ON HER EVERYDAY LIFE, GIVES HER ENHANCED EVERYTHING, AND A SECONDARY GRIMM SEMBLANCE.'**

"In all honesty, we figured out the name 'Fenrir' only about a year ago."

There was another lull in the conversation, and then Fenrir spoke up again.

' **WOW, I REALLY AM A PROBLEM, AREN'T I?'**

Ruby lowered her head. Tears slowly dripped from her face.

"I'm sorry." She said, slightly chocking on the words. Fenrir stayed silent at this.

"I'm sorry. It's my fault you died. If I hadn't been kidnapped by those scientists you wouldn't have been overwhelmed by the Grimm they had locked up and Yang wouldn't have trouble sleeping some nights while fighting her Grimm and Dad and Qrow wouldn't have to bother teaching us how to control our Auras and I wouldn't have to hide how much I've actually done with Fenrir and-"

' **RUBY, SHUT UP!'**

Ruby snapped shut at that, eyes still dripping.

' **NONE OF WHAT YOU SAID WERE YOUR FAULT. IT IS MOSTLY MINE AND THOSE SCIENTISTS WHO DID ALL OF THIS TO YOU. I WAS THE ONE WHO PUSHED YOU TO DEVELOP YOUR GRIMM POWERS. BUT I WILL NOT ALLOW YOU TO FALL INTO SOME SORT OF DEPRESSED STATE BECAUSE YOU THINK EVERYTHING THAT HAS HAPPENED TO YOU.'**

Ruby blinked, tears slowing down. She then smiled, though it wasn't one of her usual smiles. It was a bitter smile full of regret and acceptance.

"Yeah, your right. Sorry for breaking down on you."

Fenrir grunted, and then spoke up again.

' **AND SUMMER, SORRY FOR CORRUPTING YOUR DAUGHTER.'**

Ruby laughed softly. Sure, Fenrir could be a bit crass at times, but he was caring when he needed to be.

"I'm sure she would forgive you. After all, you're me."

' **AND I'M YOU. NEVER FORGET THAT.'**

Ruby smiled and stayed silent for a few seconds longer. Just as she was going to continue her conversation with her mother, she heard something that surprised and angered her.

' **YOU KIDDING ME? THEY ARE TRYING TO COME TO THIS PLACE?'** Fenrir's comment accurately described what she was feeling.

"Sorry Mom, but I have to keep the Grimm from coming here." Ruby stood up and turned to face the woods where she heard noises coming from. Eventually, the Creatures of Grimm slowly walked out of the tree line. Black fur ruffled in the slight wind. Moonlight glinted slightly off of the white bone armor. Glowing red eyes flashed hungrily, drawn to this place of purity.

"Fifty matured Beowolfs." Ruby muttered, taking count of the eyes.

' **NO SWEAT, THEY ARE THE WEAKEST GRIMM OUT THERE.'**

"Also the fastest. Don't dismiss your own species." Ruby responded to her Grimm's careless comment. The Grimm growled at their prey seeming to ignore them and talk to herself.

"I think I'll need to borrow your power now."

' **I WOULDN'T ACCEPT YOU DOING ANYTHING LESS.'**

Ruby's face split into a maniacal grin, the scars on her face making the image all the more terrifying. The Beowolfs stopped, slowly realizing that they had not found prey, but predator.

"You stepped on sacred ground…" Ruby said, pulling out an odd box from behind her back. With a flexing of her Aura, the box unfolded to reveal a scythe that seemed to also be some sort of gun as well.

"And for that…" She continued, slowly reaching up to her face. Ruby then seemed to take off a non-existent mask, and a burst of crimson energy flared from her hand. Now, a bone white mask in the shape of a wolf's skull with odd crimson tribal war paint adorned her face. Her eyes had changed as well. Gone was the intelligent and innocent silver, replaced by a crimson iris on black sclera. The Creatures of Grimm began to back away, their instincts telling them 'BY THE SEVEN HELLS, GET OUT OF THERE THE FASTEST YOU CAN!"

" **I shall devour you!"** Ruby yelled, the same reverberating, guttural tone that was similar to Fenrir's. Grinning beneath her mask, she disappeared in a flurry of crimson rose petals. The sound of wolves crying in pain and terror filled the night for about 10 minutes after that.

And then, silence.

* * *

'Now, how did thing end up like this?' Yang Xiao Long wondered to herself. She had just finished her finals (Probably getting barely passing grades on anything except the physical portions. Those she excelled at) and had decided to try and find some more information on two things. One was the whereabouts of her mother. Which actually reminded her just now that today was the day that her other mother died. Man, she was totally going to have to apologize to Ruby about that. Then again, she hadn't been getting that much sleep due to studying for finals and her having to fight that Grimm of hers.

Stupid thing. Why couldn't it take a hint and just stop resurrecting every few weeks? That was a Phoenix's thing, not a Dragon's.

That was actually the second thing. Finding the people who actually gave her and her sister their Grimms. If those scientists could actually get those Grimm inside of them, then there had to be a way to get them out. She did not want to deal with the crude comments and horrible things it had to say about her.

Anyway, she had taken Bumblebee and ridden all the way to Vale to find exactly the information she needed. There was only one problem. Junior, the most infamous information broker and mob boss in all of the four kingdoms had nothing on either her mother or the scientists. So she responded the best way she could think of.

By grabbing his balls and demanding that he tell her the truth. The look on his face and all of the gang members was absolutely priceless. She so wished that she had some sort of camera so that she could have taken a picture of the incident.

After the mob had gotten over that she had just grabbed their boss's balls and was threatening the thing that all men (and some woman) treasure the most, they took extreme offence and started to try and shoot her head off. She threw the whimpering man at his men by the balls and started fighting off the mob. That was when she realized she might have bitten off more than she could chew. Everyone in the bar and club was part of the club. Everyone! Especially that Teddy bear-head DJ with the rocket launcher! That was quite the surprise.

Then the twins got involved in the brawl. And oh, how she hated those twins. Especially the one with the feet weapons. She never did completely figure out how to fight people who mainly used kick. It was just such an uncommon way of fighting that threw her off balance. She wasn't training to be a public safety officer; she was training to fight giant soulless creatures that ate humanity!

As soon as she finished with the terrible two (Ha, a pun! Going to have to remember that one), Junior finally got up from his small pain coma. Grabbing the rocket launcher the Teddy Bear DJ had, he then revealed he had a trump card this entire time. He could use Aura, and that rocket launcher was a Hunter's weapon.

And that is how Yang got here, fighting the biggest crime boss in all of Vale in the middle of a club with her theme playing in the background. Well, it wasn't her theme, but she and Ruby considered it such because of how much it fit her. Man, if her mind could go on tangents like this from this, then she must be really tired.

Yang ducked another swing of the Rocket Launcher Club (Gonna call that the RLC from now on) and delivered a mighty punch into his solar plexus. The air rushed out of his lungs as he reached for something to grab to keep from flying away. Yang felt a slight yank on her hair, but thought nothing of it as she watched the crime boss fly away with the RLC in one hand and a lock of… golden… hair…

Her golden hair. Her hair, which had taken her entire life, an hour in the shower and bathroom, and another hour of brushing to get that luxurious feel and golden color. And he just ripped a lock of her beautiful hair out of her head.

Nobody. Messes. With! **The! HAIR!**

Yang's eye turned crimson in anger, a power previously untapped flowing through her body. Dark gold flames raced across her body and hair.

" **That's it! You die tonight, Junior!"** She shouted, her voice reverberating slightly. Junior, for his part, realized that by grabbing his hair, he unleashed a dragon of gigantic proportion into the world. He took a step back.

"Whoa, hold up blonde! I'm sure we can work this out!" Junior yelled, but Yang was already rushing towards him. Once more she slammed her fist into him, not caring about holding back any longer. Her fist exploded with the dark gold fire that her aura had become, creating a shockwave that shook the building to the core.

That was when Yang's eye turned back to their normal lilac color. She blinked twice, then looked around.

"Damn it." She swore, realizing she had lost control of her powers once again. Now that meant that stupid dragon would come back even faster. And she only had a month to prepare for going to Beacon. If she got in, that is.

She sighed as she exited the slowly collapsing club. Today had really been a bust. No new information on her mother or the scientists, her finals were probably crap, and she was tired and sore from not getting any sleep for 42 hours. What could possibly go wrong?

"Yang?"

'I just had to tempt fate, didn't I?' Yang thought to herself as she turned around. Her sister, her darling little sister, was behind her, looking in awe and slight terror at the sight that Yang just came from.

"Hey sis." Yang replied. Ruby blinked her innocent eyes and Yang had to physically struggle to keep herself from glomming her.

"We have a lot to talk about." Ruby said sagely. Yang just tried to ignore the exploding building behind her.

"Just… Get on Bumblebee and I'll tell you about it on the way home." She said, hoping that the incident wouldn't be tracked to her.

And if it was, she was going to punch Fate in the face. After sleeping for an entire day.

 **And there you have it, my new fanfic. For those of you who want to see more of Fate Stay With Me, you're going to have to wait because I am basically going through the whole thing and rewriting it. I apologize, but it had to be done. I failed so hard when writing chapter 5 of the story that I felt that I needed to go back and redo it.**

 **Anyway, on to this fic. This is RWBY with a twist. Both Ruby and Yang have Inner Grimm. These things actually are inspired by two sources. One was the idea of Inner Hollows from Bleach. The second was Personas from Persona 4. I won't explain why or how, but you will just have to guess. Ruby is going to be a little smarter and Yang is going to be a little more tired. You will see why in the upcoming chapters. I also haven't decided on the pairing as well. Yes, this will have pairing and will eventually reach M territory. Not for lemons, but for the dark themes and such I have planed. Mostly it is going to be from Yang's side, due to her way of handling her Inner Grimm, but that is here nor there.**

 **I guess the main reason for me writing something like this is because RWBY is one of those worlds where the developers really won't go deep into the darker parts of it. It is the same thing with Highschool DxD. I want to write something where at times it is still funny and amusing, but still serious. Also I noticed the parallels between Hollows and Grimm and decided to write something similar. For those of you wondering, the situation with Inner Grimm will be nothing like the situation with Inner Hollows. Also, the eyes are going to be important for how much power they are channeling. I will explain more next chapter.**

 **Read and Review, because I need to know how well I am doing and how I can improve.**

 **Next up: Ruby goes to a store, participates in a robbery, and becomes a protégé**

 **Ultima Out!**


	2. A New Dawn

**I own nothing. You hear me? NOTHING!**

 **Chapter 2 – A New Dawn**

It had been nearly a month since what Yang and Ruby called 'The Burning Club Incident.' Since then, Yang had slept and avoided all contact with authorities until she knew that she wouldn't get fined with assault and property damage. Ruby was worried about her sister, but that was mainly because she would be going to Beacon without her to help with the Grimm.

 _' **And you know that it will definitely start acting up in a few days.'**_

 _'Yeah, something like that will definitely try to take over during her school years.' Ruby thought back. When she was in a public place like this, she just spoke to him in her thoughts. The public place she was referring to was a nice little Hunter shop called From Dust till Dawn. The owner was nice, the place was in a convent spot, and it had a thorough selection of the Weapons magazine. To say that this shop wasn't a perfect getaway for a weapon enthusiast like Ruby would be saying the sky wasn't blue. Fenrir liked the models as well._

 _' **Did you see that one? That guy had quite the pack. Though why do they always show the guys mostly shirtless? Honest question, but no complaint.'**_

 _'You're supposed to be looking at the weapon! Not the person! That sword of his is amazing though! A gladius that can split into two claymores that are connected by a specially made string that can withstand the pulling strength of a Goliath? Might be incapable of long range, but it is still a great weapon!'_

 _' **Eh, honestly looks a bit too emo for me. And the name, Memento Mori? That is just depressing.'**_

 _'Have to agree with you there.'_

Ruby flipped the page, turning it away from the blue haired man using the weapon. They went on like this for a little while longer until Fenrir changed the topic.

 _' **So how long do you think it is going to take them to realize you're gone?'**_

He was talking about Ruby's father and sister. Ruby had ditched the house for a little alone time and to stop worrying about her sister. Usually it was the older sister who worried about the younger, but Ruby had a good reason to worry. Yang's deal with her Grimm was different than Ruby's. Due to her Grimm being more aggressive than Fenrir, Yang had to constantly fight for control. Because of this, her Grimm powers couldn't be activated at will like Ruby's could. Yang always trained so she could keep that monster in her soul under control, but it was taking a toll on her body. She was definitely much more tired than she used to be, and her smiles were becoming more and more forced. Tai-Yang, their father, was extremely worried about the both of them because of this. He expected Ruby to actually end up in a situation similar to Yang's.

So she hid her abilities. She hid her Grimm abilities from all those who worried about her. No need to get them more involved than they should be. She also came here when tension was running high in the house because of her and Yang's Grimm.

 _'I don't know, maybe in an hour?'_

 _'… **Ruby, you need to let them know how I differ from that monster that resides in your sister's soul.'**_

 _'I know that! It's just that… What if they start seeing me as you?'_

 _' **They won't. Even though I am you, you are not Fenrir the Devourer.'**_

 _'I don't exactly get it, but ok.'_

 _' **If things went to worst, than I would ask you to put on the Mask so I could talk to them. If it ever came to that.'**_

 _'Alright. One thing though.'_

 _' **What?'**_

 _'Fenrir "The Devourer"? What sort of name is that?'_

 _' **Are you saying it isn't cool?'**_

 _'No, I'm saying that your choice of a title is horrible. What do you devour?'_

 _' **Anyone who gets in our way!'**_

 _'I'm the one who devours them! If anything, that should be my title!'_

 _' **Ruby the Devourer? I can't see it catching on. Your name just doesn't suit it.'**_

 _'And yours does.'_

 _' **Yes!'**_

The argument would have continued on for an indefinite amount of time if Ruby was then not roughly spun around, her cowl and headphones coming off. She was then face to face with a suited man wearing sunglasses.

 _'He looks familiar.'_

 _' **Wasn't he one of the people who were running out of that club your sister exploded about a month ago?'**_

 _'Oh yeah!'_

"Empty your pockets and give everything you have to me." The man said, hoping to use his whole intimidation factor to make the little girl do his bidding.

"Are you… Robbing me?" Ruby asked, stalling so she could get a feel for who was in the store. There was old man Shopkeeper (Seriously, his name was George Shopkeeper. He came from a long lineage of shop keepers that were eventually named after their profession), about 10 of the goons, and one guy who wore the same outfit they did only white and no sunglasses. However, it was what they were taking that made Ruby realize something was wrong.

 _'Their… stealing Dust.'_

 _' **This is not good. Better stop them.'**_

"Yes!" The man, who was apparently so idiotic that he was trying to rob a 15-year old girl and failing, yelled at her.

"Ohhh." Ruby said, nodding sagely.

 _'We need more room.'_

 _' **Try jump-kicking him through a wall.'**_

Ruby did just that. And with a "Hi-yaa!" as well. It caught the attention of everyone in the store. It did take her out onto the street, and all the other robbers came out to see exactly how a young girl was able to kick someone through a wall.

She smiled, slowly reaching underneath her cloak. Ruby then unfolded Crescent Rose, her smile turning more terrifying and bloodthirsty as the weapon unfolded. She slammed it into the street, easily cutting into the asphalt. She let her eyes flash crimson to increase the fear factor. It seemed to work on the grunts, they all taking a step back. However, the most interesting reaction was the leader.

His eyes narrowed in recognition. Almost if he recognized the weapon, or what it stood for. But there was something else. When she let her Aura flair to cause the eye flash, she felt something push against it. Another Aura. One that came from the leader.

 _'That one is dangerous.'_

 _' **Kick him in the balls. It will keep him from moving for a while.'**_

"Ok… Get her." The leader said, waving his had forward to signal the grunts to move. As if a dam broke, they all ran to take her out.

 _' **I can't believe I am the one to tell you this, but don't kill them. Something tells me that they will be important later.'**_

'Right.' Ruby nodded, then went to work. Making sure to keep herself limited, she attacked with the shaft of her scythe. All it really took was a single tap anywhere to their bodies and they were out. Aura channeling made things like this a lot easier. It eventually ended with her standing in front of the leader with all his men on the ground, rose petals that were too much like the color of blood slowly raining down, and the shattered moon behind her.

 _' **Ok, that needs to have a picture.'**_

"So, tell me exactly why you are stealing dust." Ruby said, not bothering to create a threat to go along with that statement. The leader looked surprised, the schooled his features.

"You guys were worth everything I paid you. Really, worth every cent." He said, looking at the scattered unconscious forms of his henchmen. Then his eyes went back to Ruby.

"Sorry Red, but I can't tell you that." Ruby stiffened at the name in shock. He took advantage of her shock by throwing a Dust crystal at her. She jumped out of the way, then saw that was what he wanted her to do. He raised his cane, reviling that it was also a Hunter's weapon. However, Ruby recognized it. It was wielded by the most infamous criminal in the Four Kingdoms. Roman Torchwick.

 _' **The fact that you didn't recognize him until he showed his weapon is sad.'**_

 _'You didn't recognize him either!'_

 _' **Yeah, but you should still kick him in the balls. Then you can interrogate him on how he knows that name. After we have everything he knows, we can collect his bounty. It is in the millions if I remember correctly.'**_

Ruby didn't have time to answer due to Torchwick shooting. She immediately flared her aura, but realized that it was a mistake. The dust crystal reacted and exploded, releasing an over the top explosion.

'Damn it!' Ruby thought, blowing away the smoke with a Semblance-enhanced spin. She then looked wildly around, then caught sight of the fleeing criminal. She immediately ran after him.

Torchwick had somehow gotten onto the roof in the small amount of time that it took her to blow away the smoke, so she had to jump up to it. It was something that she found out about her Grimm abilities. She had enhanced _everything._ Strength, endurance, IQ, everything! Jumping huge heights had become no big deal to her. It was actually how she got into Vale in the first place, speeding around and jumping over the security. She just had to be careful because for some reason, her Aura makes Dust react more explosively than usual when inflexed with a lot of it. That is why she and her sister were incredibly careful around dust and dust weaponry. They barely put any Dust into their bullets and just compensated with their incredible strength and speed.

Torchwick seemed quite surprised when he saw her leap from the ground to the top of the building with a flurry of rose petals behind her. She went to stop him, but he just threw another Dust crystal at her again to slow her down. This continued until Torchwick stopped at the edge of a building.

"Well Red, this is where I bid you adieu." He said, then leapt off the building.

 _'… **Did he actually just commit suicide because you were chasing him?'**_

 _'Fenrir, shush! What is that noise?'_

Ruby's eyes widened as a Bullwing floated up from where Torchwick had leapt off. She could actually see him standing in it, smirking slightly. Ruby glared, eyes turning crimson.

 _'Can't just jump up there and slice the thing in half. It would draw too much unwanted attention.'_

 _' **So shoot him so you can kick him in the balls!'**_

Ruby agreed silently, changing Crescent Rose into its Sniper form. Taking aim and allowing the specially made bullets to begin conducting her Aura, she grinned manically.

"Boom." She said, firing the bullet.

A flash of crimson was Torchwick's only warning that something was wrong. He quickly ducked as the Aura enhanced bullet shot to him, through his hat, through the roof of the Bullwing, and into the night sky. He straitened up and took off his hat, looked at the ceiling, and back to Ruby. He then spoke the one word ringing through his mind.

"Nope. Cinder, get us out of here!" He shouted up to the cockpit. The ship immediately turned to speed away.

 _' **You didn't kick him in the balls, and now look! He is flying away with his hoe! Shoot the thing down, kick him in the balls, and drag him off to get money!'**_

Ruby couldn't help but snort at his comment. She aimed another round when a hand rested on her shoulder. She blinked and looked at the person holding it. A blond woman wearing quite an interesting outfit looked down at her. Ruby took immediate notice of the riding crop at her hip and some of the scars hidden by makeup. She was used to seeing where the makeup was applied to hide the scars. Yang did it all the time, after all. However, Fenrir's attention was focused at something else.

 _' **Look at those knockers!'**_

"You're… A Huntress." Ruby said slowly, letting Crescent Rose collapse into its box. The woman seemed surprised at her observation, then nodded.

 _' **3, 2, 1…'**_

"Can I have your autograph?" She practically shouted, eyes turning back to silver.

 _' **Fangirl mode activated.'**_

* * *

"If I had my way, I would send you home with a pat on the back." Glenda Goodwitch said, pacing in front of Ruby. They were now in a mostly dark room with a single light. Ruby had been dragged here after getting the autograph, and it seemed like there was an interrogation about to happen. Ruby and Fenrir were pretty sure it would be her that was interrogated. Glenda than turned to the young girl in front of her.

"And a slap on the wrist!" She punctuated this sentence by striking the table with her riding crop. Ruby flinched back, shocked at how this Huntress was able to turn from reluctantly impressed to furious in a few seconds.

 _' **Probably she is some sort of Dominatrix or something.'**_

 _'Fenrir, stop! I can't get the image of her in something like that out of my head now!'_

 _' **And it looks glorious.'**_

"But, it is not my call to make. There is someone else here that wants to meet you." She said, snapping Ruby back to reality. A man slowly walked into the room, the light glinting off of his glasses. His cane made slow movements on the ground as he walked.

"Hello there, Ruby." The man said. Ruby realized exactly who he was the moment she saw him. Professor Ozpin, principal and founder of Beacon. The school her sister would be sent to in two days. He then pulled a plate of cookies from behind his back.

"Would you like some of these?" He asked as he set them on the table.

 _'Cookies!'_

 _' **Cookies!'**_

Ruby immediately grabbed one and stuffed it into her mouth. She than began to devour the entire plate.

"So, you must be wondering why you are here." He said as Ruby finished off the entire plate.

"I can think of two reasons." Ruby replied, swallowing the remains of the last cookie. Ozpin didn't even look surprised at this.

"Oh, and what might they be?" He asked. Ruby held up her hand and began to count it out.

"Well, the first and less likely one is to scold me for using my weapon and semblance to take out civilians. Granted, they were part of the mob, but they were still civilians. Also for trying to shoot down a Bullwing in the middle of the city." She said, looking at her hand. Ozpin nodded.

"Why do you say less likely." He asked. Ruby let down her hands and looked at him.

"If that one was true, you could have had Ms. Goodwitch do that for you." She replied, letting all façade of childishness drop. Glenda started in surprise at Ruby's transformation.

"So I believe that the second reason is true. You have something you need me to do. Can I ask what it is?" Ozpin just nodded, as if he just expected her to be much more mature than she usually acted.

"I want you to go to Beacon." He said. Ruby's eyes widened in shock. She expected some sort of job, but asking to go to his school did make a sort of sense.

"C-can I ask why?" She asked. She wasn't sure exactly what she was feeling. Hope, fear, excitement, all of them were surging through her body. Ozpin sat down and looked Ruby in the eye.

"The first and probably most obvious is that I believe that you have the talents to become an excellent Huntress. You were able to prevent a robbery and nearly catch Torchwick without any extra help. The only reason he escaped was because he had help he really shouldn't" He said. Ruby nodded, and he continued.

"The second and third are related, and are the most important. It comes from two pieces of information that I gained from an old crow."

"You mean my Uncle Qrow?" Ruby asked in surprise. He chuckled and nodded.

"The first is the creatures you and your sister carry within you." Ozpin said completely seriously. Ruby chocked on air, turning pale. Glenda frowned at Ruby's reaction.

"Y-you know about them?" Ruby asked in shock. Ozpin only nodded.

"And I know you are quite close to yours. However, your sister is not." He replied. "I have heard from him how powerful you are when channeling Its power. I want you to help keep your sister's in check."

Ruby could only nod at that. She could never hide anything from her Uncle. When she used her mask for the first time, he had appeared out of nowhere with his weapon at her neck. She had to explain everything to him. Ruby just wished she knew where he had gone.

"The third reason is a message I received from him recently." Ozpin continued.

"What was it?" Ruby asked, slightly curious.

"'Queen has pawns.'" The three words had chills run through her spine.

 _' **Well, that is not ominous or anything.'**_

Ruby silently agreed with her Grimm. Whoever this Queen was, it caused her Uncle to drop out of sight completely. But that raised the real question. Who was Queen? Did she have any connection to Torchwick's heist on the dust shop? And was she really a she, or was it some sort of chess metaphor? Even if it was a chess metaphor, it would imply that there was a King as well.

"So, want to come to Beacon?" Ozpin asked.

Ruby thought for a few seconds, than opened her mouth.

* * *

"Oh, I'm so glad my little sister is coming to Beacon with me!" Yang cheered in glee, glomping her sister. Ruby smiled and snuggled into Yang, hugging her back. When she got home, she found that their father had made Yang pack up and go on one last father-daughter bonding trip. Translation: they went into Everwinter Forrest and beat the crap of all the Grimm there as stress relief. When they got home 5 minuets before Yang had to leave, Ruby was nowhere to be found. Their shock was legendary when they realized that Ruby was going to Beacon with Yang. Tai-Yang protested for a bit, but relented. He waved his two daughters off with a proud and worried heart. Yang was just now able to show how happy she was that her sister could come with her.

To Yang, Ruby was the main support for her sanity. If she didn't have Ruby, she would have lost to the Grimm years ago. She also was a great friend and there when Yang needed her. Ruby helped her study and kept her awake when she started to fall asleep. She would always be by Yang's side when needed. She was also quite cute.

No! Bad thoughts! Your sister may be cute, but you aren't attracted in any way! Not by her gleaming silver eyes that betrayed an intelligence hidden underneath that innocent face. Nor by the fact that her chest was growing at the same rate Yang's did. She did love her, but as a sister, not like that! Not at all!

"Yang, are you Ok?" Ruby asked, looking up from the hug. Yang broke off the hug and took a step back. Ruby looked disappointed, but tried to hide it.

"I-I'm fine." She said, than tried to cover up a yawn.

"Its acting up again, isn't It." Ruby asked. Yang paused, then nodded. A few rose petals breezed past, and Yang realized she was in a hug again.

"Don't worry. I will make sure that It won't hurt anyone, including you." She said, her voice muffled by Yang's shirt. Yang stood still for a few moments in shock. She smiled softly.

"Really, who is the oldest sister now?" She muttered, knowing full well that Ruby could hear her. She than returned the hug. They stayed like that for most of the ride to Beacon.

Until Ruby noticed some vomit on Yang's shoe.

* * *

 **And that is a wrap! I finally got this done and ready to be uploaded! Now time to reveal this!**

 **-Neo's Ice Cream Corner-**

Neo: Hello!

 **This is how I will reply to reviews and questions about the story. Know that I will not be responding to flames. Constructive criticism, yes. But no flames.**

Neo: Don't forget about me!

 **Right. My co-host for these sections will be Neo Politan, everyone's favorite mute ice-cream girl.**

Neo: Except I can talk here. Yay!

 **So, first review, from Oblivions Boatman:** _I'm liking what you are doing here, I just have a question. Does Ruby's mask look something like this? /The-Grimm-side-of-Ruby-479297357_

Neo: Not exactly. If you read the description, you will see that it is a full mask similar to that of a wolf's skull, not face. The eyeholes are big enough that you can see Ruby's crimson-black eyes incredibly clearly. You also cannot forget the markings on it as well. It's appearance is so shocking, it can make a Creature of Grimm feel Death's grip!

 **Right. The next one is from FOODninja-321:** _I have one issue… PLEASE o holy Gaben. Use less caps. Please just stop the caps train! Otherwise WELL DONE! No spelling mistakes or wacky punctuation and very good flow… So yeah… WELL DONE!_

Neo: Heh, find it interesting you're telling him to stop caps locking and you do it yourself.

 **Neo! What he and I were doing was completely different! Anyway, thanks for the review. As you can see, I changed how the Inner Grimm (IG for short) speak. Makes the story flow a lot better, I would think.**

 **Anyway, the last one comes from Djar:** _Interesting concept, I'll be keeping an eye on it. Also before I read the AN I could swear you were using Kindred from League of Legends as a base for Ruby/Fenrir._

Neo: …Who?

 **I don't actually play League of Legends or follow its lore, so I'll have to find out later who he or she is. Anyway, one question I would like to see you guys answer. Neo, would you do the answers?**

Neo: Of course! There are going to be eight people with IG. I am actually one of them! Can you guys guess exactly who they are and what sort of animal the Grimm is based off of?

 **If you don't want to guess, that is fine. I will hopefully have the next chapter up in about a week, so I will see you then!  
**

Neo: Neo signing off!

 **And Ultima out!**


	3. Beacon of Hope

**I own nothing. You hear me, copyright laws! NOTHING!**

 **Beacon of Hope**

"We're finally here!" Yang shouted in glee. That plain ride had been a bit of a disaster once that one boy had begun to throw up. She could still hear him retching into a trash can. Why was that boy even here, anyway? If you can't keep your stomach on a simple plane ride, you would never be able to keep it in a fight. Whoever that kid was, he was going to train hard to reach and keep up with them. On a good day, Yang could probably take a Goliath down. But that was because she had It in her and It gave her enhanced strength, speed, stamina, and intelligence. She may not look or act like it, but Yang had a very high IQ. It actually was probably higher than the smartest person in her class. The only reason she got some of the lowest passing grades is because It loved to mess up her life and sleeping schedule with nightmares and battles that showed up the next morning. She couldn't exactly explain to her teachers why she was missing school so much, and her scars before she had began to cover them with makeup made them think that she was quite the delinquent. Yang turned to Ruby to see why she wasn't answering. Ruby was looking around with a blush and eyes gleaming.

'Here we go again.' Yang thought with a giggle.

"Oh dust, Yang! Look at all those weapons!" Ruby shouted with glee. The younger than latched on to the older, pointing everywhere. "Look, see that one with the flamethrower sword! And that one with the rocket lance! Oh, oh! Are those Basilisks? Someone is actually using those! That is amazing!"

"And what about that girl with the big rack?" Yang said, knowing exactly what Ruby was doing.

"I know! And that guy with-" Ruby stopped short. Slowly, she turned to face Yang. Her eyes were filled with horror. Ruby's mouth opened to explain herself, than closed. Yang giggled a bit and patted her sister on the head.

"Welcome to the world of enhanced hormones, Sis." Yang said with a sympathetic smile on her face. One of the downsides of having enhanced everything was that it actually did enhance _everything._ Their emotions were hyped up, so they would experience the worst of fear just by getting lost as a child. They both had incredibly short attentions spans as well. One of their father's favorite stories was when the two daughters were doing trust falls and Yang got distracted by a butterfly. Yang argued that it had been glowing, but nobody believed her. However, the worst was their enhanced hormones. When Yang had begun to noticed that 'By Ohm, my classmates are all incredibly hot hunters-in-training and I want to have my way with all of them!' she went to her father at once. It did not help that she emitted a pheromone in the air that attracted both males and females, however slightly. They were able to mask it up mostly with some stuff that Qrow had gotten for her, but that didn't stop the hormones. Yang had gotten to the point where she could basically ignore it, but there were sometimes where she just had to find some way to relieve herself.

"Is there anyway to stop it?" Ruby asked. Her silver eyes began to glisten with tears. Yang sighed and shook her head.

"No, you're just going to have to deal with it." Yang replied. She pulled her sister into a one-armed hug.

"But I don't want to be a pervert!" Ruby said to her elder sister. Yang snickered and released her sister. Then put her hands on Ruby's shoulders.

"Sis, all teenagers are perverts. You just need to find something to take care of the perversion." She advised her younger sister. It was the same advice that her father had given her when her hormones hit.

"So… are there any books I could read?" Her younger sister asked. Yang smiled and nodded.

"The Ninjas of Love series helped me through the past years. It probably will help you too." Yang said, slightly cursing the fact that she forgot her entire collection back at home. Hopefully they will allow days to go down into town and buy some stuff. Tuskson's was a great place to go if she needed something and didn't want to be judged. Apparently his niece liked the series as well, so he always had the newest edition ready the day it came out.

"Ninjas of Love?" Ruby questioned, tilting her head. Yang nodded gleefully.

"Yep, a constantly changing series about life, love, action, and hugely overcompensating attacks. The series has been going for 5 years now, and you can either pop into reading the newest novel or read the entire series from the start. The author makes sure not to offend anyone, and ties quite a bit of ancient lore into the stories in ways you wouldn't expect." Yang explained, glad she could finally talk to her little sister about her favorite series.

"Sounds like it's only smut, but if you say so…" Ruby said. Yang let go of Ruby and folded her arms.

"I won't disagree with you there. It's what I thought when I first picked it up. Sure there are intense steamy parts, but the story really doesn't need it most of the times. Except for the Dues Sex Machina." Yang said. Ruby blinked, then her eyes narrowed.

"You've been on TVtropes again, haven't you?" Ruby asked, though she knew full well the answer. Yang chuckled sheepishly and was about to respond when a searing pain flashed though her head. It was all she could do to not react. Ruby noticed.

"Yang? You ok?" She asked. Yang nodded.

"Yeah, just small headache. Anyway, have to get going. Need to see a few of my friends!" Yang said rapidly. She ran off away from Ruby, ignoring her shout of protest. Yang didn't even pay attention to where she was going, only trying to find some place to be alone. She eventually found a restroom and ran in there. Slamming the stall door close, she slid down it and sat on the floor.

"Damn it, why now?" She muttered, not expecting any response.

' **Because I finally woke up from that punch that broke my mask last time we fought. Figured you would be missing my presence, warden.'**

Yang gasped, straitening when she heard the voice in her head. She knew who it was. She did not want to know who it was, but she did. The voice, deep and female, chuckled. It was as if an avalanche had started, and Yang was the only one who can hear it.

' **Yep, I'm** _ **back**_ **!'**

"No, it can't be you! You're just a Grimm! You can't talk!" Yang tried to reason with reality.

' **Yes I can. So can the Bitch's.'**

"T-the bitch?" Yang asked, not knowing anyone by that title. Then she got it. Her eyes immediately flaring crimson, she shot to her feet.

"Don't you dare call Ruby that!" She shouted at nothing. The voice only chuckled again.

' **Oh, protecting her? But that is exactly what she is.'**

"No she is not! She is the exact opposite of what you are calling her!"

' **Am I? You have no idea of the cruelty she is capable of. No, you are. You just do not want to acknowledge it. You do not want to say how much she terrifies you.'**

"What are you talking about? If anything, Ruby is innocent!"

' **Wow, it really is so bad you forget exactly what she does to my kind.'** Yang frowned at this.

"Wait, you mean how she treats the Grimm? What do you-" Yang stopped as a vivid memory flashed through her mind. It had been a few weeks after Ruby had made Crescent Rose and wanted to try it out. The family, including Qrow and Tai-Yang, all went to the forest to test it out. Then Yang got ambushed by an Ursa. What happened next freaked the life out of Yang. Ruby flipped, eyes immediately turning crimson. The scythe was around the Ursa's neck so fast, Yang didn't even see it. Ruby was on its back, her weight making it impossible for the Grimm to move. She then leaned down to its ear and said something that Yang could not hear, but she saw for the first time a Grimm show emotion.

Fear. The Grimm, beasts that were said to be emotionless predators, was all too clearly showing that it felt fear. Then Ruby, without any remorse, beheaded it. Blood splattered across Yang's prone form as she stared at Ruby in shock. The young girl struck a terrifying image. Crimson eyes and a crimson cloak with a crimson scythe. Then her eyes turned back to normal and she was fussing over Yang, asking if she was alright. She had almost forgotten about the incident. If she was honest with herself, Yang wished she could forget about it.

' **Like you would ever forget about it. She is truly a Bitch.'**

"Stop… calling… Ruby… **That!"** Yang shouted, dark gold fire erupting around her.

' **Oh, that is quite interesting.'**

" **What?"** Yang asked the voice.

' **Just look at your reflection.'**

Yang's eyes went wide. She ran out of the stall and looked at the mirror. What she saw chilled her heart. Crimson red irises on black sclera stared back at her, framed by a glowing dark gold mane of hair. But what Yang noticed the most was that over the left eye there was bone white mask with golden tribal markings slowly forming. It took her a few seconds to realize that the person in the mirror was indeed _her_.

" **What the-"** Yang exclaimed. Her hand went to her face and felt that yes, that was a mask that looked eerily like a Grimm's forming on her face. Horror slowly spread into her crimson eyes. **"What is this?"**

' **This is our true power! You can fell the rush, can't you?'**

" **Shut up!"** Yang shouted. **"I don't want this!"**

Yang grabbed the forming mask and ripped it off. She watched as it slowly dissolved into nothingness. Looking back at the reflection, she saw she was back to normal.

' **You will need it someday, and I want to be free. Let's see what happens first.'**

* * *

'Stupid Yang, running off like that.' Ruby thought, her arms folded as she wandered around.

' **You did feel It start acting up, right?'**

'Yeah, I know. It is just that I wish she would actually let me help for once.'

' **She will not. The Little Dragon is too proud to ask for help.'** For some reason, Fenrir insisted on calling Yang the Little Dragon. When Ruby asked, Fenrir just stated that it felt right to call her that. Then he told her that for some reason, it also felt right to call her 'Bitch'. He decided to call her by her name instead, though he will slip into calling her that sometimes.

'Still, I just wish-' Ruby cut off that thought due to something in the real world drawing her immediate attention. Namely, a suitcase she just ran into. With a small sound of surprise, she fell backwards.

' **Wait, somebody actually got in front of us while we were talking? That's a first.'**

'Shut up, Fenrir.'

"Do you have any idea what you have just done?" Ruby blinked and turned to look at who had that voice. A girl about Yang's age stood over Ruby, glairing at her with sharp blue eyes. Pale white hair streamed down the side of her face in a side ponytail. She also had a vial of red Dust in her hand.

' **She's a tsundere. Calling it!'**

'Fenrir! Do not call her that until you know she is!'

"…ne simple misstep and we could have exploded!" The girl said, shaking the vial and unintentionally releasing more and more Dust into the air. Ruby tilted her head in confusion.

"Explode?" She asked in confusion. The white-themed girl made a noise that was a cross between a hiss and a growl.

"Yes, explode! I already told you that this was a shipment of Dust! I just explained that to you, you dunce!" White shouted in anger, shaking the vial again. Ruby's eyes widened.

'Wait, with all this dust in the air-'

' **It's gonna blow!'**

"Get down!" Ruby yelled, tackling White to the ground. White let out a noise of surprise, than began to struggle out from underneath Ruby. She stopped when the air around them began to explode.

Ruby hunkered over the girl, doing the best she could to protect her from the explosion. Eventually, it subsided. Ruby pushed herself of White slightly, so she could look at her.

"Are you OK?" Ruby asked in concern. White did not look OK at all. She was pale, paler than she was before. Her eyes were wide in shock. When she looked at Ruby, her face suddenly lit up. Her mouth opened and closed for a few seconds, then she kicked Ruby off of her.

"You dunce!" She yelled as she ran off. Ruby sat on the ground in surprise, but narrowed her eyes in suspicion at her retreating form.

"She really is a tsundere." Ruby confirmed. She expected the roaring laughter from Fenrir, but she did not expect the snort of surprised laughter from behind her. She turned and looked at who made the noise. A girl with long black hair and a bow on the top of her head stood behind her, her hand to her face to try and hide how much Ruby's comment actually affected her. She also had eyes that Ruby mistook for gold at first, then she realized they were a very rich amber. But what really set her apart was the slight smell of cat that came from her.

' **Either she lived with a crazy cat lady like Ms. Reale or she is a cat Faunus hiding her heritage.'**

'I bet it is the latter. Nobody can live with someone like Ms. Reale and stay sane.'

"Mind helping me up?" Ruby asked, smiling sweetly to Black. She blinked, nodded, and held out her hand. Ruby grabbed it and got up.

"Thanks. My name is Ruby Rose, what's yours?" She asked, still smiling.

"My name is E-Blake. Blake Belladonna." Blake said.

"Nice to meet ya!" Ruby shook Blake's hand.

"It is good to meet you too." Blake replied

' **And that was the start of a glorious friendship.'**

* * *

' **Not really.'**

'Fenrir, what are you going on about now?' Ruby asked her IG. After meeting with Blake, she and Ruby talked for a bit. They then met a blond boy named Jaune. Ruby tried to introduce him to Blake, but she disappeared like a ninja. The two talked for a bit, then tried to find the place where orientation was happening. Which led to them witnessing Ozpin's depressing speech. She and Jaune split up, and Ruby finally found her sister again. Which lead to this moment.

"So, make any new friends?" Yang asked with a teasing smile on her face. Ruby just rolled her eyes.

"Yang, I can't just make friends like that." She replied. Then her expression turned thoughtful.

"Though I did make a few new people that could be friends." Ruby muttered, knowing full well that her sister could hear her.

"Oh, like who?" Yang asked, the smile still on her face.

"Well, there was that one guy named Jaune that actually was quite nice, and then there was another girl named Black who is probably a ninja." Ruby listed off the people she met, thinking if there was anyone else. Then her fist slammed into her palm.

"Oh yeah! There was that tsundere girl who I protected from an explosion!" Ruby said, grinning. Yang blinked as her smile slipped off her face.

"You did what?" She asked, hoping that she heard her younger sister wrong or she was kidding.

"Saved a tsundere girl from exploding. Though it was kind of my fault due to how Dust reacts to my Aura." Ruby replied.

"Sis, you have got to be kidding." Yang said, trying to argue with reality. However, it was soon apparent that it is quite impossible to do that.

"Excuse me." A voice came from beside the two sisters. They turn to look at White slowly approaching Ruby. When she gets a respectable distance away, she holds out her hand.

'My name is Weiss Schnee, and I would like to thank you for protecting me when my actions caused that explosion." Weiss said. Ruby blinked, recognizing the last name. Smiling, she shook the snow themed girl's hand.

"You're welcome. It is mostly my fault due to me and my sister's Aura tending to cause Dust to act more violently." Ruby replied. Weiss's eyes widened in surprise.

"Wait, Your Aura makes Dust react violently? How is that possible? How can you even be a proper Huntress if you don't use Dust?" Weiss asked in quick succession.

"We aren't really sure on how it is possible." That was the truth. Ruby had no clue on why having an IG affected dust like it did. "And for being a proper Huntress, it just means I have to be careful with my explosions. I've had a lot of experience with them."

"I could tell." Weiss deadpanned. "Well, I'm glad I could talk to you…" She trailed of, realizing Ruby had yet to introduce herself.

' **Only you, Ruby. Only you would have someone thank you without even introducing yourself.'**

'Stop! The way you say it makes it seem like a bad thing.'

"Oh yeah, I never introduced myself. My name is Ruby Rose. It's a pleasure to meet you Weiss." Ruby said, smiling.

"Rose. Sounds familiar…" Weiss muttered. Ruby blinked when she heard that, but did not pursue it.

"Anyway, I am glad I could talk to you Miss. Rose. I hope to see you after the test." Weiss said, then walked away.

'Polite, but she is defiantly a tsundere. Nothing can convince me otherwise now.'

' **It is way too obvious because of the way she dresses and how she acted when you saved you.'**

'Don't most tsunderes wear some sort of red?'

' **Right, forgot about that.'**

"You… Ruby! Do you know what you just did?" Yang asked in shock. Ruby snapped out of her trance and turned to her sister.

"Huh?"

"You just had the Schnee heiress come and apologize to you!" Yang said, still in slight shock.

"She is known as the 'Ice Queen', unable to even feel human emotion." Ruby and Yang turned again at the semi-unfamiliar voice. Ruby was surprised to see Blake lying on the floor, a book in her hands. She had it closed around her thumb to keep her place.

"Blake!" Ruby said happily. She was glad she found the only girl other than her sister that she had bonded with, however slightly.

"How long have you been listening in?" Yang asked. Her tone made Ruby blink and turn to her sister. Yang's eyes had narrowed in suspicion.

'Wait, why is Yang so territorial all of a sudden?'

' **Probably the Little Dragon noticed her smell. Every Faunus is proud of their heritage. If one is hiding it, what do you think that means?'**

'Ah. What does it?'

' **How in the Seven Hells should I know?'**

"Right as soon as Iheard my name. And Ruby, I am not a ninja. Just a Huntress hopeful that specializes in stealth." Blake replied to Yang's question. Yang huffed, but let it go.

"Anyway, we better get well rested for the test tomorrow." Yang said. "Let's go, Sis."

"Aww, OK." Ruby said, knowing full well not to argue with Yang when she was in 'Overbearing' mode.

"Goodnight Yang, Ruby." Blake said.

"'Night to you to, Blake!" Ruby called back.

Nether of them knew that this was only the first of many nights they would say that to each other.

* * *

 **-Neo's Ice Cream Corner-**

… **This was supposed to be out last week.**

Neo: It's OK, you were only a week off with your prediction on how long this would take you.

 **That's the thing! The only reason this took so long was that it was way too** _ **similar to canon**_ **!**

Neo: …Is that a bad thing?

 **Yes and no. It means something familiar to the readers, but they are reading this story for different moments!**

Neo: True. I guess things could be worst. It could just die off after only two chapters.

 **NO! I will not let that happen! I hate it when promising stories just stop after 2 or 3 chapters! That will not happen until I at least reveal-**

Neo: SPOILER!

 **Thanks, Neo. Almost revealed something they are only supposed to be thinking about. Anyway, on to reviews.**

Neo: Right! The first one is from dark habit, _'Why is Fenrir so perverted? Staring at abs while Ruby looks at weapons, (don't get me started on how that is possible) and doing the age old Glynda is secretly a Dominatrix fantasy._

 **Well, you have to remember that Ruby and Fenrir, for all there apparent differences, are one in the same. Ruby is Fenrir, and Fenrir is Ruby. The reason Fenrir is so perverted is because Ruby is incredibly perverted as well.**

Neo: It is just that Fenrir embraces that side of them while Ruby tries to focus on the weapons. Fenrir is still interested in weapons, but knows it really is just an excuess for Ruby to stare at hot Hunters and Huntresses.

 **The next one comes from Djar:** _ **Thanks for the chap. Also the gist of the character is that it has a wolf spirit that flies around her and they each use a mask to symbolize the other. Since it came out a little time ago I assume you were using it from Ruby/Fenrir interaction (Until the AN that is). GL on your next one.**_

Neo: …

…

Neo: He guessed them.

 **No, he didn't. He just guessed the human masks. HE DID NOT JUST GUESS THE WALKERS!**

Neo: Anyway, Shadow Walker of Fire is the final one this time: _I think the ones with IG (Does that mean Inner Grimm?) are all of team RWBY, Cinder, Emerald, Mercury, and Neo. I don't know who gets what but I think Blake has a panther and Weiss has a nevermore._

 **You guessed six of the people who have it, and one of the IG. Weiss and Blake are just normal. Well, as normal as you can get for a heiress and-**

Neo: SPOILER! You have got to stop doing that! Anyway, for guessing 75% of the ones with IG and one of them, I'll show you mine! *Lion's mask with pink tribal markings. It should be noted that her eyes (Pink) remain the same, even with the black sclera.*

 **Just Leo? Not-**

Neo: **SPOILER! Will you stop doing that!** *Mask disappears.* Anyway! Next chapter you finally will see Yang's IG for yourselves.

 **The only question is, Eastern or Western?**

Neo: Let's let them sit on that. Neo signing off!

 **And Ultima out!**


	4. Emerald Forest

**I own quite a lot of things, like a computer to write this story on. What I do not own is RWBY or any other franchise I happen to reference.**

 **The Emerald Forest**

Yang didn't know where she was. Well, she knew she was dreaming, but she had never seen this place before. However, this place seemed comfortable to her.

It was a plateau of a mountain above the clouds. She could see other mountains peaking over the clouds, but none were as high as she was. Interestingly enough, Yang was not cold. Though that might be explained by the pool of lava in the middle of the plateau. The noonday sun shown down on her, filling her body with an energy she didn't knew she had.

Yang took a long deep breath, taking in the fresh air.

"Man, it's beautiful up here." She muttered.

" **Indeed it is, much as I hate to admit it."**

Yang froze at that voice, her eyes widening in horror. She started to look around, trying to find the source of the voice.

" **Over here, Little Dragon."** The voice called. Yang turned to the pool of lava in the center of the plateau. She moved just in time to see it explode as something huge burst out of it. Yang shielded her eyes from the stray drops of lava. After a few seconds, her eyes shot upwards to find what came out of the lava. She froze at the sight.

Large leathery wings, similar to that of a bat's, blocked out the sun. The beast's scales were a black that seemed to suck in the light around it with tips shining a dark gold. Bleached white bone with golden tribal markings covered certain parts of the beast, making it look as if it was wearing armor. The beast landed in front of her, dark gold flame dancing in its maw. The beast reared up its head and roared, spewing the flames to the sky. Yang took a step back when the beast's gleaming red eyes looked at her.

" **Hello, Little Dragon."** Yang's Inner Grimm said. Yang tried to speak, but no words came out.

" **You must be surprised at my new look. I will admit that it invokes a certain awe when seen for the first time."** The IG began to admire itself. That set Yang's mind strait.

"You're here to try to take over my body again, aren't you?" Yang asked, bringing her fists up. With a twitch of her Aura, Ember Celica cocked and enveloped her fists. What Yang didn't expect was for her IG to start laughing its head off.

" **Take you over here? In the middle of a bunch of hunters and huntresses in training, not to mention the clearly certified hunters as well? Hah! You must be stupider than I thought! We would be dead in a few seconds!"** The Dragon Grimm laughed. Yang slowly got out of her stance in surprise. What had happened to the mindless beast that would try and take her over? This wasn't how things were suppose to go! They were suppose to try and take you over and turn your body into a Grimm with Aura!

" **No, I am here to give you a proposition."** Yang blinked in shock, and the Draconic Grimm continued. **"I noticed how the Bitch's Aura had been increasing in leaps and bounds, yet no one could explain why. With that amount of Aura, she could clear an island full of Mature Grimm without any rest. It was quite strange, and then it hit me."**

"What?" Yang asked. Her IG smiled, revealing pure white teeth sharper than knives.

" **Her Grimm. She has somehow made a deal with The Devourer. They must have been working together for some time."** Yang's eyes widened in shock.

"No. That's impossible." She said, stumbling backwards. The IG's smile grew even wider at this.

" **Search deep inside you. You know it to be true."** The Draconic Grimm hissed out. Yang stopped panicking and blinked.

"Did you just say that?" Yang asked in shock. The IG blinked.

" **Huh. Didn't think you would catch that in your panicked state."** Yang's Inner Grimm muttered.

"You didn't even pull it off right! You are most definitely not my father!" Yang yell at the Grimm, outraged that such a mistake had happened.

" **Anyway,"** The Grimm growled, bringing Yang back to reality. **"I want to make a similar deal."**

"What?" Yang asked. Why would this _thing_ want to make a deal?

" **I will supply you with my power willingly on the behalf that you use it. That also means I get to stick around in your head and watch what is going on."** The Draconic Grimm proposed. Yang's eyes widened in shock.

"Why?" Yang asked. The Grimm did it's best to shrug.

" **Now that I finally have a mind that can think clearly, fighting you doesn't seem that appetizing. Sure, I love the good fight, but it wouldn't be a good thing to do here. I want to see exactly why my kind is the way it is. Also, I am pretty sure that I experience everything you do."** The Grimm explained. It made sense, but that was why Yang was worried. It could help immensely, but what would happen if the Grimm got bored? Would it decide to take over again?

It was a risk she would have to take. Yang would do anything, _anything_ , to make sure she could protect Ruby.

"You've got yourself a deal, Grimm." Yang said. The Grimm only grinned.

" **Call me Tiamat, Little Dragon."** The now named Tiamat said to her host.

* * *

' **You know, when he said test, I really didn't think that this would be it.'**

'No kidding.' Ruby said, staring over the vast expanse of trees. The forest was almost as big as the one near their home. Ruby could feel Grimm stalking in the forest, waiting for something with an Aura to be made their dinner.

' **Why would they even have this by the school?'**

'To toss Huntsmen in training into? You know, for training? But really I'm more worried about Yang.' Ruby snuck another glance at her sister. She had felt different this morning. Almost if her Aura had something happen to it.

' **It is odd, but you are going to need to focus here. Ozpin is coming'**

"I see you all made it here on time." Ozpin said from behind them, making all of the students turn around. His face was emotionless, same as last night. "For this entrance test, you will need all of your skills to survive this test."

' **He's good.'**

'What?'

' **He's making everyone scared so they would stop acting rationally. Probably trying to see if any of you are actually ready to become hunters.'**

'Well, I definitely am ready!'

' **That's because the Old Crow decided to take you under his wing. Not everyone had that same privilege to have one of the Heroes as their uncle.'**

'Right.'

' **Also, you might want to pay attention, Ozpin is finishing up the rules.'**

"After you get the relic from the ruins, you and your partner must come back to the top of this cliff. Oh, I forgot to mention," Ozpin took a sip of his coffee. "Your partner is the first person you make eye contact with in the forest."

"What?" Ruby nearly shouted in shock. She could hear Yang's intake of breath. One of the reasons Ozpin brought her here was to keep an eye on Yang! Why would he have a chance to have them not partnered up?

' **Remember how teams are formed here.'**

'What do you mean by…? Oh!' Ruby realized what Fenrir was alluding to. Each team was formed in fours. That meant two partners were put together into a single team. She could still be on the same team as her sister if they weren't partnered together.

"You will be making your own landing strategies." Ozpin said as he stepped back. Ruby blinked.

"Landing strategies?" Jaune asked, missing one of the students on the end go flying off from a launch pad that sprung up beneath him. Ruby's eyes widened at that.

'That's new.'

' **No kidding. What was Ozpin drinking when he thought this up?'**

'Probably coffee.'

With Fenrir laughing in her head, Ruby looked to Yang. Yang smirked at her sister and put on her reflective shades. She leapt just as her pad began to launch her, sending her flying much farther than most others. Ruby unfolded Crescent Rose and got ready.

'Here-'

' **-We-'**

''- **G** O! **'** ' Ruby disappeared in a flurry of rose petals.

* * *

Blake landed on her feet. She always did. No matter the height or the distance, she would land on her feet. One of the things she could thank her Faunus side for. Even if she had to keep some of it hidden.

She closed her eyes, creating a map of the area in her head. While the rest of the hopefuls were propelling themselves and making sure they didn't land right in the middle of a pack of Grimm, she was using the height to try and map out the forest as well as she could in the air. She had seen some ruins near the cliff, but were those the ones that the artifacts were at?

'Best head that way and see what would happen.' Blake thought. She turned to head the way the ruins were at.

Only to see an eruption of dark gold flames a little ways away from her. Blake took a step backwards in shock. She could feel the heat of the flames from where she was at.

"What in the Seven Hells?" Blake let out. A burst of flame like that wasn't supposed to happen. No semblance she knew of could do something like that. Then again, she didn't really have that much experience with any semblance other than her own or Adam's.

Still, she probably should go over and check the area out. The stream of the odd colored fire had finally died down, but she could see that there was still some fire burning.

When Blake got there, she saw an interesting sight. There were two Grimm slowly dissolving and burning in that same dark gold flame that erupted earlier. In the center of the newly made clearing was a girl with long blond hair. She was panting with a shocked expression on her face.

"I did this…" She said, looking around. The girl eventually saw Blake and blinked. Blake noticed that her eyes shifted colors from a crimson red to a pale lilac. The girl reached to her face to adjust something, only to realize that she had nothing on her face.

"Great, just great." She muttered, than a smile split her face.

"Hey there! I guess I'll be your partner, right?" The girl said happily, startling Blake with the sudden mood change. "My name is Yang Xiao Long, what's yours?"

"Blake. Blake Belladonna. We met last night." Blake said, still feeling slightly uncomfortable with the name. That was her name now, and probably will be it for the rest of her life.

"Oh yeah, I remember you." Yang said, slamming her hand into her palm. "You're the one who told my little sister about the Ice Queen last night."

That was when Blake remembered her. She was that overprotective sister of that Ruby girl who had the guts to call the Schnee Heiress a tsundere. Considering what happened, it was a fair call. Not that she would ever say that to the heiress's face.

"Well, we better get going!" Yang said, turning to start walking away from the clearing. Blake watched her a bit, than began to follow.

'Something is off with her.' Blake thought to herself. The fact that Yang was able to switch from being slightly frightened to cheerful in an instant was not normal.

Blake would keep an eye on her, just in case.

* * *

Weiss was having a bad day. The first day was one as well, and more and more things were just piling up to make the day bad. First she nearly was blown up, which was embarrassing because she was the heiress to the Schnee Dust Company and should know better. She then had to find the girl who protected her and apologize to her. She spent about an hour looking around the school grounds before she realized that the girl was actually coming to Beacon to train as well. That meant that the girl was probably some sort of protégé if she was that young and was already going to Beacon. Once she realized that, she ended up being late to the assembly. Then this morning she was hit on by this blond dunce who had no idea who she was. _Then_ it turned out the true entry exam was being flung into a forest full of Grimm and having to find some sort of relic with the first person you made eye contact with!

Seriously, this was insane! If anyone messed up in the slightest way, they would be food for the Grimm in this forest. Ozpin didn't mention anything about dieing in this forest, but she could guess that there were people who did die just because of how the form to come to Beacon was written. It had you sign that Ozpin or any of the staff weren't responsible for any deaths, and for the years you were there Ozpin was legally the guardian of everyone going to Beacon.

Now, though, Weiss had to concentrate. She needed to find a good partner and fast. She did not want to get stuck with someone like that guy who was hitting on her. She was a Schnee, and it was important for her to find a partner that was worthy of that title.

Weiss turned to start looking for a partner when she heard something roar. She turned, her rapier in her hand, ready to strike at whatever was going to burst out of the woods.

Then all she saw was red.

Weiss stood stock still, staring into the soulless crimson eyes just a few inches away from hers. She could feel the claws of whatever sort of Grimm this creature was slowly piercing the back of her neck. She felt drops of blood running off the claws and drip down her back. Then the eyes turned silver.

"Weiss?" Ruby Rose asked with slight surprise. She then leapt backwards, removing her weapon from Weiss's neck. "Sorry, sorry, sorry! A pack of Beowolves attacked me and I was fighting them and there was another Beowolf heading towards you and-"

"Stop!" Weiss shouted, holding her hands up. Ruby's mouth snapped shut. Weiss looked at the girl for a few seconds, sorting everything she knew about Ruby Rose in her mind. This girl either had been accepted into Beacon early, or she was much smaller than most people their age. If it was the former, this girl was very skilled. If it was the latter, then Ruby must have some sort of trick that compensated for her height.

"Well, it looks like we're partners now." Weiss said. Ruby smiled and nodded. Now they only had to travel through a Grimm infested forest and find some ruins with relics to pass the test.

It seemed her day was looking up, slightly.

* * *

 **-Neo's Ice Cream Corner**

 **And done!**

Neo: Took you long enough!

 **I know. I could give excuse after excuse for why this chapter took nearly a year. But that wouldn't make any of you happy. So I am going to say that Life Happened, and start working on the next chapter.**

Neo: Anyway, Review time!

 **First one is from Bob-365:** _Well this was interesting. Rubes managed to make friends a lot more easily. Why? (Don't answer with 'because I'm the writer.) It would be quite interesting to have IG help out with social interactions like some sort of IRL visual novel, or dating sim, or something._

Neo: The reason why Ruby is making friends much more easily is because she is a little less hyperactive around new people than she is normally. She is a little more thoughtful and careful because she wants to make good first impressions. Considering what secrets she might have to reveal, she doesn't want people running away from her on the first day

 **At least, that is the reasoning I am using. The next review comes from FOODninja-321:** _NORTH SOUTH WEST!_ _But I have a question for you!_ _When will you edit the first chapter to decrease the amount of caps?_ _And do you play TTT?_

Neo: Ultima might. He half wants to keep it there because he wants a reminder on how he has improved, but he might change it by Chapter 10, if we ever get that far. And no, we do not play TTT. That is mainly because I am a fictional character and Ultima has no friends

 **Hey! I do have friends! Anyway, the next review comes from Hina Birdy.**

Neo: We aren't going to put your review up mainly because it was so big, but we will tell you this.

 **I have some ideas about how I am going to do the pairings, but I want to let them develop without people knowing who is going to be with who.**

Neo: Who knows, I might be the next member of royalty!

… **I would complain about spoilers, but that is vague enough. Anyway, the last review comes from Khajiit Ra'Koor:** _I hate it when promising stories die off after 2 or 3 chapters she said and yet the last update was in November_

Neo: Well, we're back now!

 **Indeed. The next chapter shouldn't take as long hopefully.**

Neo: Chapter 5: Improper Pieces! Where Yang feeds a snake, Weiss gets a crush, and Ozpin plays strip poker with Qrow! This is Neo signing off!

 **And Ultima Out!**


	5. Improper Pieces

**RWBY is owned by the people who have the Teeth of Roosters.**

 **Improper Pieces**

"YOU IDIOT!" Weiss yelled at Ruby, hanging on to the Nevermore for dear life.

"I'M SORRY! I DIDN'T KNOW THERE WAS A NEVERMORE IN THAT TREE!" Ruby yelled back.

This had all started when the two of them were attacked by an Ursa Minor. Ruby told Weiss 'I have an idea' and cut down the biggest tree near them. The Ursa was crushed, but there was an evermore in the tree as well. The Nevermore was very angry that its perch had been destroyed. One thing led to another after that, and now here they were on the back of a very angry Nevermore.

"My partner is a complete idiot." Weiss muttered. She must not have been quiet enough because she saw Ruby flinch.

"I'm sorry, I didn't know…" Ruby said, trailing of and looking to the side. "Hey, aren't those the ruins?"

Weiss blinked and looked the way Ruby was. A little ways away, a clearing was visible. Inside that clearing was a temple looking structure with various structures behind it.

"I think it is." Weiss said, slightly shocked. Here they are, on the back of a fully matured Nevermore, and they found the ruins already. "How do we get there?"

Ruby grinned as her eyes flashed a crimson red. Weiss flinched. Even though she had only known the young girl for less than a day, she knew what was coming.

 **"** **I** have an idea."

* * *

"I'm still surprised you actually were able to see this." Yang said as she walked into the clearing with her new partner. Blake shrugged.

"When I saw people being launched off of the cliff, I realized we might be able to get high enough to see where we needed to go." Yang hummed in agreement.

"But what about you're landing? I had to constantly propel myself to make sure I didn't hit the ground too hard." Yang asked.

 **'** **You just did that so you could fly a little bit. You could have landed just fine if you didn't.'** Tiamat's words flowed through Yang's head almost as if they were her own thought. Yang's eye twitched.

'Shut up' Yang thought. It was weird having Tiamat awake and actually able to speak. It was almost as if she had a person commenting on her every action. Not only that, it was someone who Yang utterly despised.

 **'** **I'm hurt. Really.'** Yang's eye twitched again.

'I said, shut up!' Yang mentally yelled.

"Yang?" She heard Blake ask. Yang blinked as she focused back on Blake.

"Sorry, I spaced out there." Yang said, rubbing the back of her head with a slight smile. No need for her partner to think she is crazy this early on. Blake looked at her for a few seconds than nodded.

"Anyway, it looks like those are the relics." Blake said, gesturing to the temple-like ruin. In that ruin, there where fourteen pedestals with some sort of chess piece on it. A few of the pieces where gone, meaning that they weren't the first ones who reached the ruins.

Yang gave a critical eyes on the remaining pieces. Both colors of the knight pairs where still here, the white rook pairs, and one of the black bishops. After careful consideration, she picked the one that Ruby would pick.

 **'** **Siscon, much?'**

"I call the horsey!" She said, grabbing the white knight and ignoring Tiamat. Yang saw Blake blink.

"…Well, let's get back to the cliff then." Blake said after a momentary pause. Yang was about to nod when something hit her.

"Wait, do we need to get to the cliff or do we need to get to the top of the cliff?" Yang asked. This caused Blake to pause once more.

"I'm not sure." Blake admitted. Yang sighed. That was just great. Hopefully it was that they just had to get to the cliff. She did not want to climb up that cliff.

"We'll find out when we get there, I guess. On another note, what were you reading last night?" Yang asked.

"The biography of a former employee of the Aether Foundation." Blake said. Yang froze. Her mouth opened and closed, but no noise came out. She could feel her face pale. She couldn't bring herself to care.

 _"_ _Come, Yellow child. Let me give you some of my love."_

"No…" Yang muttered, horror in her voice.

 _"_ _The sister subjects Red and Yellow show amazing results."_

"No, please, no…" Yang's voice was horse. Blake looked at Yang in surprise.

"Yang? Are you okay?" Blake asked

 _"_ _You ungrateful child! After I shower you with my love, this is how you respond!"_

"Yang?" Blake asked again, more urgently.

 _"_ _MOMMY!"_

"Yang!" Blake shouted, finally bringing Yang out of her flashback. Yang stumbled a bit in shock.

"B-Blake?" Yang asked, making sure she wasn't back there. Her eyes where flickering from her normal lilac to the crimson red that signified her Grimm's influence on her body.

Blake had gotten close to her. She had put her hands on Yang's shoulders. Her soft amber eyes had turned hard in worry. Her bow twitched, betraying her disguise.

"Yang, were you involved in the Aether Foundation incident?" Blake asked.

 **'** **Wow. That got out much faster than I thought.'** Tiamat said. Yang wasn't listening as she stared at Blake. She eventually nodded. Then Blake did something Yang never expected her to do.

Blake pulled Yang in for a hug.

"I'm sorry." Blake said in Yang's ear. "I'll make sure to not to say anything about them from now on."

Almost as suddenly Blake had pulled Yang into a hug, she stepped away with a soft, comforting smile on her lips.

"Thanks." Yang said softly. Blake nodded, then turned to head back to the cliff. Yang turned to follow.

'I wonder how Ruby's doing.' Yang thought, not expecting the universe to answer.

A Nevermore crashed into the clearing with a screech, a scream of fear, and a yell of joy.

Yang and Blake jumped back, preparing their weapons for a fight when they realized something.

The Nevermore had one of its wings cut off. That Grimm would not be going anywhere after this. They also saw that there were two people on top of the Nevermore.

"You idiot! We could have died!"

"Well, we didn't."

"Only because you grabbed me and jumped after you cut off its wing! If we could have survived the fall, why did you cut off the wing?"

"Because then it wouldn't come after us."

"You stabbed your scythe into its back to literally steer it to here! Why would it come after us after that?"

"Because Grimm?"

"That's not the point! Wait. It's still moving."

The Nevermore then let lose an incredible screech.

"…Did your sister get here by riding a fully grown Nevermore?" Blake asked, dumbstruck. Yang could only nod. The Nevermore continued to screech.

"Yeah. She did. And she has Weiss Schnee in a bridal carry." Yang answered, just as shocked as Blake. Indeed, Ruby was carrying Weiss in her arms with Weiss's arms wrapped around her neck. Even as they argued, both of the girls showed no sign that they were going to let go. The Nevermore screeches sounded once more.

"Well let's get our relic, Princess." Ruby said, walking to the ruin temple. In her arms, Weiss's face lit up. The Nevermore made one final screech, then went silent.

"P-princess?" Weiss muttered.

 **'** **It seems as if the Bitch really is good at attracting others into a pack.'** Tiamat murmured. Yang grit her teeth.

'Do not call Ruby that!' She mentally shouted. Then she pumped her fist when Ruby set Weiss down and grabbed the remaining White Knight.

However, her celebration was cut short when a huge Nevermore, even bigger than the one that Ruby and Weiss rode in on, flew in screeching in absolute anger. All of the girls in the clearing jumped back in shock.

"What in the Seven Hells?" Weiss swore. Yang had to agree. Where did that thing come from?

"The other Nevermore must have called it here!" Blake called out. Yang cursed. Why hadn't they shut it up while they still could have?

 **'** **Because you were too busy gawking at your sister flirting with the Princess. Not that I blame her.'** Tiamat said.

'That was a rhetorical question!' Yang snapped.

 **'** **Well I gave a rhetorical answer. Besides, you need to move!'** Tiamat snapped back. Yang's eyes went wide when she saw the Nevermore beat its wings, sending razor sharp feathers their direction.

"We need to get to the cliff!" Yang yelled. Ruby nodded.

"Everyone, let's go!" Ruby yelled, taking command of the situation. All of the girls nodded, and they ran off.

* * *

 **'** **Well, this is a problem.'** Fenrir said. Ruby agreed. They had reached the cliff, but also a problem at the same time. It turns out that there was a ravine between the cliff and the valley the Emerald Forest was in. The ravine went so deep she couldn't even see the bottom. There were ruins of old bridges that appeared to have spanned the ravine so one could get out of the valley. However, none of the bridges actually reached the other side now. They had been taking pot shots at the Nevermore, but nothing was getting through its feathers.

'We need to cut that thing down. If I had a clear shot, I could get up there and cut it.' Ruby replied. Combine the Conductive Dust infused in Crescent Rose and her semblance, velocity manipulation, and she would be able to take the Nevermore down.

 **'** **That thing saw what you did to its girlfriend. It will not willingly let you get in close.'** Fenrir advised. Ruby nodded, then began to look around to find something to use to help her take down the Nevermore. Uncle Qrow always said that the battlefield was usually the best weapon. She then saw two pillars about the same height and grinned.

'This might work…' Ruby thought. Just needed a few things.

"Blake, do you have any extra-long ribbon with you?" Ruby yelled to the black haired girl. Blake nodded. Good.

"Weiss, do you have a glyph that can hold something in midair?" Ruby asked her new partner.

"Of course I can!" Weiss replied. Ruby grinned. This will work.

"Yang! Get the Nevermore's attention! **I** have an idea!" Yang grinned. Weiss muttered "oh no". Blake tilted her head, then realized exactly what Ruby was planning.

"That might work." She said. Weiss turned to Blake in shock.

"How in all of Remnant would that work?" Weiss yelled. A burst of flame caught their attention.

Yang was punching fireballs at the Nevermore. Somehow, she was using her semblance and weapon in tandem to punch actual fireballs at the Nevermore. Inside her mind, she heard Fenrir whistle in admiration.

 **'** **Seems the Little Dragon got an upgrade.'** Fenrir said. Ruby nodded. Then she noticed that the Nevermore was circling around to come in to attack Yang.

Ruby's eyes flared crimson. Nothing harms her big sister if she can help it.

"Now!" Ruby yelled. Blake nodded and moved to the pillars. She shifted her sword into a small scythe with a long ribbon attachment and threw it. The ribbon was long enough to wrap around the pillar once. Ruby jumped back onto the ribbon, pulling it down with her weight. Weiss then pulled the ribbon down using a glyph.

"Can you make the shot?" Ruby asked. Weiss smirked.

"Can I?" She asked. Ruby tilted her head, silently asking a question. Fenrir began to laugh in her head.

"Of course I can!" Weiss yelled, uncomfortable at the way Ruby was looking at her. Ruby smiled and nodded. The Nevermore had finally made its loop around and was now diving at Yang.

"Fire!" Ruby yelled, her eyes crimson. Weiss let go of the ribbon, launching Ruby to the Nevermore. Flipping around, Ruby landed on the giant bird's neck with her scythe raised.

Even though it looks terrifying, a scythe is not a good weapon. The only way for one to attack with a scythe was to swing it. And most of the time, the blade edge is on the inside of the blade. One would have to angle it right just to be able to cut something with it. To actually use a scythe properly in battle would take years of training, and said training would have a surprising focus.

Speed. When using a scythe, it does not matter if someone can swing it hard. It is able to use the useful property of leverage to take care of that. One needs to be able to get into range and swing fast enough before the target can react.

That is one reason why Ruby chose the scythe as her weapon of choice. Her semblance was once speed. It changed to Velocity Manipulation after she gained Fenrir. Her unique semblance allowed her to reach her target faster than anyone thought possible. And even if they do react, Ruby could just prevent them from reacting too much.

However, it always pleased Ruby in a slightly morbid manner to find a situation where she could use Crescent Rose's original purpose.

Reaping.

Crescent Rose's blade began to glow with the crimson color of Ruby's Aura. The Conductive Dust inside the blade having a reaction with Ruby's unique Aura.

The blade didn't even slow down as it sliced through the Nevermore's thick neck. The bird's body continued to fly and crash into the bridge. Ruby jumped off of the Nevermore before it hit the ground to land next to her partner and her sister's partner. Both of them were staring at her with wide eyes. Weiss's mouth was wide open.

 **'** **Ruby, you're covered in the Nevermore's blood.'** Fenrir pointed out. Ruby looked down to see that, indeed, she was mostly covered in the Grimm's blood. Fortunately, her cloak was unaffected.

"Oops." Ruby said, scratching the back of her head.

* * *

Blake could only stare numbly at her partner's sister. When she left the White Fang and Adam she did not think she would meet the Schnee Heiress, a survivor of the Aether Foundation incident, and a protégé that could cut though a Nevermore with a single swing. Was she part of some sort of chosen generation of Hunters or something?

She shook her head. There was no way that could happen. Something like that could only happen in books. That wasn't how the world work.

"Well, that was a thing." Yang said as she walked up to her sister. Then she frowned when she took in Ruby's appearance.

"You've got blood all over you again." She said like it was a normal occurrence. Ruby was about to say something, but they were interrupted when the bridge shook. Blake swore under her breath. The Nevermore's crash must have been more than this old bridge could take.

"Everybody, jump!" Ruby shouted. Blake was confused at the order, but followed it anyway.

Suddenly, the wind began to whip past her as she was sent flying. She heard Weiss make a noise of fright, but all she could focus on was the fact that they were reaching the top of the cliff incredibly fast, and that crimson rose petals flurried around them. Blake didn't miss the implications of this. Somehow, Ruby had used her semblance to toss them all up to the top of the cliff.

The landing was surprisingly soft. Blake took a few seconds to make sure she was balanced before looking at the rest of the girls.

Yang was giving Ruby an unreadable look.

Ruby had Weiss in a bridal carry again. And they were arguing. Again.

"You idiot, why didn't you warn me!"

"I did!"

"You just yelled jump! That is not a warning!"

"You were supposed to jump!"

"Then why did you grab me!"

"You weren't jumping!"

"Well, maybe if you told us what you were going to do, I would have!"

"The bridge was falling down!"

"Well I don't- Is that blood!"

Blake stared at the arguing duo and started doing something she hadn't done in years.

She laughed. She laughed at the joy of finally being alive.

* * *

Eight pawns forward. A Knight and a Rook behind the slowly advancing wall. The Queen was further back with a Bishop by its side. On the other side, only the Bishop had moved.

Ozpin stared at the pieces on his desk.

"You know, staring at nothing does nothing."

Ozpin looked up at the grey haired man who walked out of the shadows of his office.

"Qrow. What are you doing here?" The Scarecrow shrugged.

"I wanted to check how my nieces were doing. I nearly got killed in the process. Fortunately Ruby was fast enough to dodge my flying form." His reply made sense.

Qrow walked up to Ozpin and looked at the chessboard as well.

"So this is what we are dealing with?" Ozpin shook his head.

"If anything, this board is filled with improper pieces." Qrow nodded, silently agreeing.

"What would be a proper piece?" He asked. Ozpin reached to the side of the chessboard to pick up a deck of cards.

"These." Qrow blinked.

"Why?" His question was met with silence for a few moments.

"Each of these cards can mean anything, but they always work together. A flush, a pair, a strait, all of those combinations are meaningless when they are not with another card." Qrow nodded in understanding. Then, a wicked grin stretched on his face.

"Want to play a game of strip poker?"

* * *

 **-Neo's Ice Cream Corner**

 **Finally got this out!**

Neo: …

 **After Season 3 I got writer's block. So many theories jossed and created at the same time. A few of my theories, like Cinder being a pawn herself, actually turned out to be true.**

Neo: …

 **Plus, I kind of was distracted with Pokemon Sun and Moon. Great game by the way, and you should get it if you have a 3DS. If not, buy a 3DS to play it. Yes, it is worth it.**

Neo: …

 **Hey, Neo? Are you okay?**

Neo: Roman's dead.

 **Wha?**

Neo: Roman's dead!

 **No he's not.**

Neo: What do you mean!

 **He was eaten whole. With his weapon. If his weapon fell to the ground after he was eaten he would be dead. It wasn't, so he is not dead.**

Neo: Really?

 **That's how I am interpreting it.**

Neo: Yay!

 **Anyway, I am going to say a few thing of how Dark Thorns is going to differ from RWBY.**

Neo: For one, the Aether Foundation is here in this world with a few key members included.

 **Also, there is one more character from the Pokémon series as well as a few actual Pokémon.**

Neo: Most of them are legendries, and one specific UBK.

 **Blake's mom and dad are actually her aunt and uncle.**

Neo: More on that in about 8 chapters if all goes according to plan.

 **And finally, there are two people with silver eyes.**

Neo: Wait, what?

 **Both of them have been seen in in canon.**

Neo: What? Wait a minute, are you talking about-

 **Yep.**

Neo: Wow. How did everyone miss that?

 **I have no idea.**

Neo: Well then. That is interesting. With that, this is Neo signing off!

 **And Ultima Out!**


	6. The First Day

**I do not own any of the materials that have been copyrighted by various sources. I also do not own the English language. I just use it to satisfy your needs.**

 **The First Day**

Ruby stood on top of a cliff overlooking a forest. It was like the one that her mom's grave was at, and she knew the reason why. She had been at this cliff many times in the past few years. With a smile, she turned around.

Instead of the green meadow that her mother's grave was located, there was a field of roses in full bloom. Most of them were a blood-red, but there were some scattered around that were as yellow as the sun.

Also, there was a giant black wolf with bone armor in the middle of the roses.

 **"** **Once more, you are here."** Fenrir said, his gravelly voice echoing throughout the landscape. Ruby just nodded in response.

"Has there been any changes?" Ruby asked. Through trial and error, the two of them found out that this cliff represented her mental state. Whenever she was sad, rain fell. When she was depressed, down came snow. When she was angry, a windstorm kicked up. They also figured out that the reason that this mental landscape looked the way it did was because of how much the loss of her mother had affected her.

 **"** **A few."** Fenrir admitted. **"Though, I am not sure if they are for the better or for the worst."** Ruby frowned at that. Usually they could tell if something was bad or good based of off the experiences that caused them. The only thing that they couldn't tell before this was an odd silver tree in the middle of the forest under the cliff. It just sat there, only reacting if Fenrir got close to it. It would give them spiting headaches that would persist for days.

Ruby gestured for Fenrir to show her where the changes had appeared. With a nod, he shifted from where he was standing.

Underneath him were two roses. One white and one black. After a few seconds, Ruby realized what it might mean.

"Weiss and Blake." She said. Fenrir nodded, having reached the same conclusion.

 **"** **How they could make such an influence on you already, I am not sure. It is also the reason why I am cautious in determining if this is a good or bad thing."** Fenrir told her. Ruby nodded. These roses represented who was truly important to her. Most of the roses represented her mother, a few for herself, a few for her dad, and some for Yang. She had just met her partner and teammate two days ago, so how were they able to get roses already?

 **"** **Maybe you are attracted to them? Not as people who you would like to be with, but as people you would like to make a pack with."** Ruby blinked at Fenrir's theory, then thought about it. Both Weiss and Blake were attractive in their own way. Plus, they were going to be living together for a long time.

"That might be true, but I would like to get to know them before I decide to take the next step." Ruby said. Fenrir nodded.

 **"** **Plus, you do not want to dismiss your sister as a possible candidate yet."** Fenrir said with a grin. Ruby stiffened in shock, then relaxed. The two of them discussed how she felt about her sister, and concluded that the only reason she would go after Yang would be when Yang came to her.

"Was that the only change?" Ruby asked. Her eyes widened when Fenrir shook his head.

 **"** **There are two silver trees now."** Fenrir said with surprising calmness. Ruby was not sure how to react to that. The two of them had theorized that those silver trees were the reason why Fenrir was able to stay calm and not be some sort of rampaging monster. However, it really did not like him, so they could not test out what it was. The last time he tried to interact with it, it ended up giving her a migraine that lasted hours.

"Looks like we are going to have to wait and see." Ruby said, looking off the cliff again. Fenrir walked up to her and flopped down, sending roses petals flying off the cliff.

 **"** **Just like we have been for the past 5 years."** He muttered.

Blake Belladonna was, to the surprise of most, a morning person. She did not mind having to wake up in the early hours of the morning like most people. This allowed her to deal with any problems that might end up screwing her and her allies over in the long run.

Such as being able to fix her ribbon so that it still covered her ears completely and make sure her contacts were clean.

Sure, Beacon was probably the second most tolerable hunter school for Faunus in all of Remnant, but it still had its prejudices. Though not all of them were bad. After all, some of the greatest Faunus Hunters had graduated from this school. She just wanted to slip into the background, and not be noticed as she cleaned up the kingdoms in the dark. Letting people know she was a Faunus would not be a good idea, especially if somebody recognized her.

She had changed her name for a reason, after all.

Blake was brought out of her thoughts when the door to the bathroom creaked open. With a quick glance into the mirror to check if anything was ruining her disguise, she turned to the door.

Two seemingly innocent silver eyes stared back at her. If she hadn't seen what the owner of those eyes could do, she probably would be a bit hesitant to believe that the young girl in front of her was a protégé huntress. But seeing her imitating the First with her scythe made her change her mind.

"Ah, so you are up!" Ruby Rose said cheerfully. How someone could be that cheerful after waking up, Blake did not know. For her, it took a few minutes before she could stop drowning people in sarcasm.

"Do you mind helping me wake everyone else up? I wouldn't mind if you said no, but I am pretty sure that both Yang and Weiss would do something if I tried anything without backup." Her 'leader' said. Blake considered for a few moments. This could land her on the wrong side of the Schnee heiress, but she probably wouldn't stay there unless she revealed her heritage.

And what was the chance of that happening?

"What did you have in mind?" Blake asked. Ruby smiled and she pulled two objects from behind her back. One was a whistle, which Blake forced herself not to flinch at. The other…

"Why do you have a foghorn?" She forced herself to ask.

"My uncle said that it would come in handy no matter the situation." Was the reply. Blake blinked at that. What sort of family did this girl have?

"Just use the whistle for now." Blake said. Like Ruby had said, they were not sure if their two other teammates would have violent reactions to being forced awake. Yang was the most likely because of her past…

Wait.

"Ruby, do you know anything about the Aether Foundation?" Blake asked. Maybe Yang was adopted after the incident. It could explain why two completely unrelated individuals could call each other sisters.

"The Aether Foundation was an organization centered on promoting good works and natural counters to the Grimm, so that humanity could live in a constant state of peace and harmony. At least, that is what I remember being taught." Ruby coldly stated after a few moments of hesitation. She tilted her head back so she could look directly at Blake. "Why do you want to know?"

Blake stared at Ruby in shock. Gone was the excitable, innocent girl who had just been discussing what they should do to wake their teammates up. The person in front of her was a huntress-in-training, someone with a burning desire to protect those they cared about. Her sliver eyes, which had been so inviting earlier, looked like two disks of steel. However, what truly unnerved Blake was the fact that she could have sworn that those eyes had flashed a crimson red. The same crimson red that appeared when Ruby turned her scythe's blade into a black and crimson flash of energy.

"Your sister did not react well when I mentioned that the book I was reading had the Aether Foundation in it, and I was wondering if you might know why." Blake said. Ruby's eyes widened slightly and lost their cold edge.

"Oh. Well, I do know why. But until we are all ready to share our secrets, I don't think I should tell you." Ruby said. "Anyway, we need to wake the rest of the team up before it gets too late to decorate. Heh, I rhymed." She walked out of the bathroom, leaving a confused and shocked Blake behind wondering how her leader found out her secret so soon.

 **'** **I have a question.'** Tiamat said. Yang had been trying to ignore the Draconic Grimm though the day. It had been easy at first. Working on decorating their room and building the bunk beds had allowed her to focus on things other than the beast inside her. Classes had been interesting enough to keep her attention on them. Plus, she had been sneaking notes to Ruby so she would know some of the things that the teachers were saying that she knew Ruby did not have the chance to learn. Then, at the last class of the day, came in Professor Port.

'Fine. What is it?' Yang thought. Anything would be better than to listen to this fat ball of lard spewing out tails of his glory days. She was, unfortunately, separated from her sister for this class, but she hoped that Ruby would be able to stay awake.

 **'** **Why did the Bitch have so much rope with her?'** The Inner Grimm asked. Yang made sure she did not flinch.

'First, stop calling Ruby that. Second, it is because she spent too much time around Uncle Qrow. You should know this.' Qrow was, surprisingly enough, a man who felt that for every object, there will be a situation that it will come in handy. Wherever he went, he would have a select number of items that have helped him out before. A few of those items were: A hip flask, lots of rope, a foghorn, a towel, a pair of pants, a kilt, and much more.

 **'** **And why would th- Wait, what did that man say?'** Tiamat's sudden attention to Port's 'lecture' made Yang sit up and listen.

"-nd if you may happen to find yourself in the same situation I did, make sure to remember that most mature Grimm have a common weakness. Their undersides do not have any protection, so an attack there would most likely be a fatal strike. Anyway, after I had finished up fighting the hoard, I was able to…" Yang's eyes widened in shock.

'Did he just…' Yang trailed off. This man had just hidden the reason of his lecture by warping it into a tale that made most people tune out. Why would he do that?

 **'** **Because he is making sure that these hunters can take the most information out of the wildest of stories. How many rumors do you think are out there just about the Beowolves alone?'** Tiamat said. Yang had to admit that was true.

'We probably will have to talk to people about Grimm that attack. They could probably have their thoughts a little messed up and all their stories different. We will have to figure out what the common factor is in all of the stories so we can tell what we are going up against.' Yang mused.

'Still, how the heck has he gotten away with teaching like this?' She wondered.

 **'** **Think back to initiation.'** Tiamat said. Yang thought for a few seconds, then let her head fall to the table.

'Good point.'

"I do, sir!" Weiss shouted, standing up and bringing Yang's attention back to the physical world. What was the Ice Queen going to do now?

"Well then, let us see if that is true!" The Professor said, patting a cage that Yang had not noticed. A snort sounded from the cage and red eyes gleamed inside.

 **'** **Is that a Boarbatusk in there?'** Tiamat asked. Yang could only nod dumbly. She could only hope that the Ice Queen was paying attention to the right thing.

'How dare she!' Weiss thought as she stormed through the halls. First her 'leader' had woken her up with a whistle right in her ear, then had lost track of time, and then had barely been able to pay attention in class! She swore she saw Yang pass a few notes earlier that day! Then, after watching her draw a humiliating picture of the good Professor, she dares to give her advice on how to defeat a simple Boarbatusk! Granted, she was struggling until Ruby had pointed that out, but that was beside the point!

And she still hadn't figured out why Ruby's last name was so familiar to her. There was something about it that made her know she had heard it before. Yet where? Where was it that made Weiss shudder a bit whenever she heard Ruby Rose's full name? It wasn't like she was related to the Legion Slayer, Summer Rose…

Weiss immediately paused once that thought entered her head. Summer Rose, the head of STRQ, could quite possibly be Ruby Rose's mother. And that thought terrified her.

She had heard stories about STRQ when she was a child. Before she was born, there was a great war that had all four kingdoms fighting for what they believed to be right. Warriors had died fighting battles for people who only cared for themselves.

Then came along STRQ.

Each one chose a kingdom and rampaged through it. Summer Rose took down an entire army along with a hoard of Elder Grimm at the same time. Tai-Yang Xiou Long took down a Cabra Gigante alone after taking down exactly 66 hunters. Raven Brandwen slew a fully-grown Drake along with a mountain behind it with an army base on it in a single slash. Qrow Brandwen walked into a city and walked out while it exploded behind him.

Eventually, the kingdoms realized that they needed to unite to take them down. Then the team of hunters revealed that they only went on a rampage because they wanted to get the kingdoms to put aside their differences and work together. Then they disappeared for about 12 years.

Then they began to rampage through the kingdoms for two years for an unknown reason until they eventually unveiled what the Aether Foundation was doing by blowing up their main headquarters. After that, they once more disappeared.

So where did Ruby and Yang fit in to all of this? Both girls have the last names of two of the members of STRQ, so they had to be related somehow.

Weiss needed to figure this out.

 **-Neo's Ice Cream Corner**

 **…**

Neo: …

 **…** **I can explain.**

Neo: No, you really can't.

 **…**

Neo: The idiot here had the entire chapter finished months ago. They just never got around to posting it.

 **Other things were keeping me busy!**

Neo: I know. But would it have killed you to take a few minutes of your time to get this out?

 **…**

Neo: That answers my question. Though we have a question to the readers.

 **Right! I have recently found that I can develop characters a lot faster with writing in first person. But that also takes away from the general atmosphere I am trying to make with this story. I do have in the works another story that I want to get out that will mostly be in first person, but that will be a bit.**

Neo: So, in the meantime, we would like to know whether you want Ultima to stick with the style he has now or to change it to first person.

 **The poll will be on my profile.**

Neo: And with that, this is Neo signing off

 **And Ultima out!**


End file.
